Genetically Engineered Soya; Contaminating the Great Treasure

By Marc Lappé and Britt Bailey

Some 3000 years ago, farmers in China began planting the black and brown seeds of a wild recumbent vine - a forebear of the modern day soybean. Why thesefarmers chose to grow a plant that spread out along the ground, making it difficult to cultivate and harvest, is unclear and undocumented. Without proper preparation, the seeds - or beans - produced would have been hard and indigestible. By 1100 B.C., the plant had been trained, through genetic selection, to stand upright and bear larger, and more abundant protein-rich seeds. They enriched the soil with nitrogen and could be grown in soils too depleted to support other crops. Over the next thousand years, the soybean became a much revered staple food crop of the Chinese people. Different varieties carry names such as Great Treasure, Brings Happiness, Yellow Jewel, and Heaven's Bird. The soybean can produce many different types of food: soy nuts, soymilk, soy sauce, miso (fermented soy paste), oil, tempeh (fermented soy cake), flour, and doufu (tofu in Japan). It was tofu that became a core part of the Buddhist religion where monks were strict vegetarians and incorporated this high protein source into their diets.

The bean was introduced into the western world in 1765 by Samuel Bowen, a merchant who brought the seeds back from China. The bean was analyzed for its nutritional quality over the next several decades, and used for animal feed. In the 1800's it was incorporated into the human diet and its production expanded as its versatility as a food was recognized. Soybean Facts The United States (U.S.) , Brazil, China, and Argentina produce 90% of the world's soybeans. The U.S. alone produces 47% of this supply, exporting 1/3 to other countries. The soybean that is cultivated in the United States is the Glycine max. This variety is hybridized by seed producers, meaning that certain characteristics are breed into the plant by natural means to increase the vigor and yield of the plant. Soybeans provide a major source of vegetable oil and high-protein feed supplements for livestock. Unbeknownst to most consumers, the oil pressed from soybeans accounts for 80% of the vegetable oil consumed in the United States. The oil from the soybean is used in many well known products. A large portion, 90-95%, of the soy meal including the outer membranes (hulls) of the beans are used for animal feed.

Soybeans Today:
In a surprising, recent turn of events, the control of soybean production has shifted from the hands of farmers and traditional seed companies to the chemical industry. The logic of this changeover is both elegant in its simplicity and sinister in its implications. In the past few years, chemical companies such as Monsanto, have been developing gene technologies to produce food crops resistant to its Roundup® herbicide. These plants are referred to as genetically modified or engineered organisms. The major crops that are currently being engineered include potato, corn, cotton, and soybean. Monsanto has plans to market many other products that would be resistant to Roundup®.

By the year 2000, Roundup Ready™ products will include beets, corn, and oilseed rape. 60 million acres of soybeans are grown in the United States every year. In 1997, 10 million acres of this total have been genetically altered to be resistant to Roundup®. The seeds are marketed as Roundup Ready®, and are sold through seed distributors such as Hartz, and Asgrow Seed Company. Monsanto has recently purchased all or part of each of these companies. (For example, Asgrow, and Hartz are now all owned by Monsanto Company.) Developed in 1973, Roundup® has become Monsanto's major money making product, generating 50% of its sales. With its patent expiring in the year 2000, Monsanto has worked hard to create a gene technology that keeps growers dependent on its major chemical product: Roundup®. As a condition of their access to Roundup Ready® seed, farmers must strike a kind of Faustian bargain with Monsanto. Roundup® is the only herbicide that farmers are allowed to use when they decide to purchase the Roundup Ready™ seed.

Toxic Concerns:

A logical concern of Roundup ready technology is that its widespread use willl go hand and glove with a dramatic increase in Roundup herbicide usage. In spite of its reputation as a "safe" herbicide, we have concerns over this vast expansion of reliance on Roundup. While Roundup's major ingredient, glyphosate, has a toxicity of its own, toxicity from other components add another dimension to the debate. Roundup itself is typically 41% glyphosate. The remaining 59% consists of inert ingredients. These "inert" ingreients are inactive only with regard to their toxicity to pests. Inerts like polyethyoxylated tallow amine (POEA) have toxicity of their own in their functions as detergents or surfactants whose purpose is to ease the application of the herbicide. Surfactants de-clog applicators and evenly spread the herbicide over the plant.

POEA is a notable inert ingredient in Roundup. POEA was cited as the cause of toxicity in nine Japanese human deaths after ingestion of Roundup. In Taiwan, deaths have been reported in some 11 of 97 persons who have intentionally ingested large amounts of glyphosate and POEA. While such doses (measured in the hundreds of millileters) are not likely to be encountered in everyday usage, they confirm the toxicity of glyphosate surfactant herbicide formulations.

In 1992, Monsanto scientists finalized the lengthy development of a gene technology that makes plants resistant to Roundup®. The new gene increases enzymes within the plant that otherwise would be inhibited by the herbicide. The enzyme (EPSPS), or protein that controls the aromatic amino acid biosythesis in plants. When the levels of EPSP are increased, the plants become significantly more tolerant to glyphosate. Given the reality of the availability of transgenic soy crops, and their wide acceptance, it is likely that ingestion of engineered soybeans will increase. The coming market saturation of bioengineered soybeans not only raises questions about the effects of soy in the human diet, but also requires a discussion of the possible toxicity of additional gene products that humans are now ingesting.

Engineered Soybeans in the Human Diet:
According to both the USDA and FDA, the genetic changes made to Monsanto's Roundup Ready® soybeans plants will affect neither the food value nor the toxicity of the resulting novel transgenic product. For this reason, these governmental agencies have exempted all Roundup Ready™ soybeans from review requirements before their commercial introduction. Monsanto has urged the FDA to dismiss all health concerns of the EPSPS protein, asserting it makes no difference in the food value, allergenicity, taste or biological equivalence of its product compared to regular soybeans. In assessing the safety of the introduced enzyme or protein as feed for animals and humans, Monsanto found that transgenic soybean crops expressing glyphosate tolerance were equal to the nutritional measurements found in conventional soybeans. Their claim, in part, is based on the fact that the plant already makes some of the enzyme that is increased through engineering.

But we remain unconvinced that transgenic soybeans are strictly equivalent to conventional ones. For one, the amino acid composition of engineered soybeans is likely to differ. Here's why. To create Roundup Ready™ soybeans, Monsanto's genetic engineers boost the activity of a gene which makes critical amino acids like trytophan. The fact that these amino acids are in greater abundance inside plant cells not only confers resistance to Roundup® herbicide, but likely shifts plant metabolism as well. One of the main biosynthetic products of soybean metabolism is a class of compounds called isoflavonoids. These plant substances, because they have a remarkable similarity to our body's own estrogens, are called phytoestrogens. Estrogenic substances play critical roles in controlling sexual differentiation, calcium metabolism, immune functions, cancerous tissue changes, and blood clotting. Hence, it is essential to know how much or little phytoestrogen is present in soy products. A recent non-industry research team headed by Dr. H. Sandermann and working in Germany found data that suggests Roundup Ready™ soybeans may have elevated phytoestrogens. These researchers discovered that glyphosate treatment of legumes (fava beans in this case) like soybeans increases the level of plant estrogens. If confirmed, this study provides disturbing evidence that transgenic crops are not only different, but may well have a dramatic impact on the health and well-being of those who rely on soy protein as a major part of their diet. While increased amounts of phytoestrogens in adult diets may protect against certain malignancies or provide other benefits, equally benevolent effects are unlikely if such estrogenic substances enter the diet of newborns.

Non-dairy infant formulas are a case in point. New data on hormonal activity of soy components in traditional formula preparation are greatly disturbing. The culprit is the remarkably high estrogenic activity of soy isoflavones. If ingested by nursing infants, these isoflavones have been calculated by British scientists to produce circulating levels equivalent to 13,000 to 22,000 times the normal plasma estradiol concentrations found in babies. Such high estrogenic activity may have potentially dangerous secondary effects. Historically early exposure to estrogens, like the notorious DES(diethylstilbestrol), has produced sex organ dysfunction and an increased incidence of certain endocrine responsive tumors such as vaginal adenocarcinoma. While traditional isoflavone-rich soybeans may benefit adults by reducing breast cancer risk and cholesterol levels, a diet with the extra high levels, postulated to be present in glyphosate treated soy, may have detrimental effects. Among these effects are adverse effects on reproduction and the developing fetus, and disruption of the menstrual cycle. Where will consumers find RR products? While these concerns are as embryonic as the novel products, consumers who may wish to take pre-emptive action to minimize their exposure to transgenic derived soy products are going to be stymied. Soybean oil is almost ubiquitously used in many products including salad oils, margarine, shortening. The hulls of the soybean are processed into fiber bran breads, cereals, and snacks. In addition to soy based infant formula, soymilk is used as an alternative for nearly 7% of all infants. Soy lecithin is used as an emulsifier and stabilizing agent throughout the candy industry. Because most of the soybeans are sold as commodity, the engineered beans are finding their way into many well- known products. The companies that make products such as Crisco®, Kraft® salad dressings, Nestle® chocolate, Green Giant harvest burgers®, Parkay® margarine, Wesson® vegetable oils, and McDonald's Corporation have all confirmed to us that they are using the genetically engineered soybeans. The makers of Isomil®, Enfamil®, and Prosobee® infant formulas have also verified that genetically engineered soybeans are incorporated into their products.

What Can You Do?

Genetic engineering is at the forefront of a revolution that is silently sweeping American agriculture. With little consumer input and awareness, genetically engineered seed is being deregulated and given carte blanche to enter into our environment and our food supply. At this point, the only method ensuring a "gene free" diet is to purchase organic foods. Organic certifiers are presently disallowing the use of genetically seed in organic farming operations. The present state of affairs has caught otherwise alert customers with their guard down. While it is too early to tell how and if transgenic soy products may prove harmful, it is certainly foolish to prevent some consumers from exercising their time honored right to know, so that they can wait out the coming wave of genetically engineered products until they have been proven safe and desirable.